Every year on June 14, countries around the world celebrate World Blood Donor Day.
The event, founded in 2004, is designed to raise awareness of the need for safe blood for its use and its blockages, and to thank blood donors for their life-saving contributions.
World Blood Donor Day is one of eight official public health campaigns marked by the World Health Organization (WHO), along with World Health Day, World Tuberculosis Day, World Vaccination Week, World Malaria Day, World Tobacco Day, World Jaundice Day and World AIDS Day.
A blood donation is the taking of blood from a person to use it or its products until it is given to another person who needs it, through a blood transfusion. Blood transfusions help save millions of people every year. They help patients suffering from life-threatening conditions to live longer and a higher quality of life, and support complex medical and surgical procedures. They also play a vital and life-saving role in maternity care. They help lower death rates due to severe bleeding during and after childbirth.
In the blood donation process, a donor of 450 ml of blood + 3 test tubes is taken from the donor to check the type of blood and that the blood is not infected with AIDS, jaundice or syphilis.
In the process of blood transfusion, the blood or its components are transferred to the person who needs an increase in blood volume.
Many countries do not have a sufficient supply of safe blood, and blood services face the challenge of obtaining safe blood to use a sufficient amount. Adequate supply can only be guaranteed through regular donations by blood donors who do not receive payment. The goal of the World Health Organization is for all countries to receive all their blood supply from donors by 2020. In 2014, 60 countries had their own blood supply based on 99-100% volunteer blood donations, and in 73 countries are still largely dependent on donations Of family members.
World Blood Donor Day is celebrated every year on June 14, the birth date of Karl Landsteiner in 1868. Karl Landsteiner was a biologist and physician who developed the modern method of blood classification in 1900 of the ABO, based on identifying the presence of collapse factors in the name. In 1937 he discovered the factor RH (a protein component that if present in the blood the blood type is a plus and if not then a minus). He was born in Austria as a Jew but converted to Christianity at the age of 22. In 1930 he received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for developing the ABO blood classification method and in 1937 he received a prize for discovering the RH factor.
Why should you donate blood?
Already in ancient times bloodshed was a common medical treatment and was considered beneficial to health.
Today it is known that blood donation encourages the bone marrow to produce new blood cells at an increased rate, to compensate for the deficiencies caused by the blood donation. During the renewal of deficiencies the body creates cells that aim to provide the body with protection against viruses and bacteria, so a regular donation maintains a more resilient immune system. It has been found that people who donate blood regularly live on average five years longer than those who do not donate, because their immune system is stronger.
A person who donates blood regularly to stay alive after massive blood loss is higher than a non-donor, because his body is already "trained" in blood loss situations and knows how to fill in the gaps faster.
It was found that people who donated blood at least once a year showed better results in blood sugar tests. It has also been found that blood donation reduces the risk of heart disease.
